Chapter 137

Matt

I waited until I was sure Celeste had run for the house before I shrugged off my leather jack and shifted. Enzo would find it, or I’d come back for it. My phone rang, and I stiffened. It was in the pocket my jacket, and the rogue’s ear pricked.

The rogue growled low in its throat, flattening back its ears, but I made sure to stay between it and the house. I growled back and lunged for it, but it was already running. It was much more agile than the last one, and it turned on a dime, taking off at a sprint. I immediately sprang into action, grateful that it was at least heading away from Celeste and the party. The thought of Celeste being anywhere near it made panic tighten in my chest.

I was still angry that she came out here alone, and I let that anger drive away the panic. She could have been seriously hurt. She could have been killed.

The wolf was faster, almost as fast as me, but the longer we ran, the more I closed the distance between us. I couldn’t let it get away. It would find its way back to the party, back to people. I couldn’t let it put Celeste in danger. She was everything to me and all I could think was protect protect protect, the word a relentless drum in time with my paws hitting the forest floor.

The rogue ducked around a tree, trying to lose me, but I crashed through the undergrowth after it. It didn’t matter that I didn’t have the antidote. It didn’t even matter that I was out here alone, and it took three of us last time to get the rogue down. This was suddenly personal.

I needed to protect Celeste.

What happened to me, even what happened to the rogue, didn’t matter at that moment. I let my instincts take over as I chased after it, letting myself become more wolf than human. It was easy to get lost in it, and I rarely toyed that line. Werewolves always took the chance that they might become the animal too much, descend into it too much, that they never came back again. Or if they came back, they didn’t come back right. But I was willing to push myself now. I had someone counting on me.

I pushed myself to rush faster, harder. My muscles strained, and I was panting, but I made myself keep going. This rogue was a lot faster than the other one, but it was thinner. It didn't have the bulk that made the other one so powerful. I just had to catch up and get it on the ground. I thought that in a fight, I at least stood a pretty good chance. After all, I was trained. This rogue was just a wild thing.

We reached a moonlit clearing, and I crashed into the side of the rogue as it moved to change course. I took its neck in my jaws and bore it to the ground, tasting blood. I didn’t close my jaw all the way. There was still a person in there. I had to remember that. I just had to subdue it until Seth or Enzo could reach us. Enzo would have put out the alert the minute he got off the phone with me.

The rogue writhed beneath me, and I pinned back my ears, growling low in my throat. Submit to me, I thought. Submit. But it continued to thrash and fight despite the precarious position I had it in. I tightened my jaw and it yelped.

The minute I loosened my grip a little, it jumped up, whipping around to snap at me. It caught the side of my face in its jaw, and I reared back. We broke apart and circled each other, our ears pinned, and our hackles raised. It had a light gray coat, spotted with bits of white, the fur around its neck red with blood. It glared at me, a malevolent gleam to its red eyes. A mixture of saliva and blood fell from its open mouth as it panted. I could already feel my cheek knitting itself back together.

It made a move to run, and I lunged for it, knocking it to the ground. This time, it wasn’t willing to let me get my teeth around its neck. It fought back, dragging its claws down my side. I yelped and leaped back. Where were Seth and Enzo? I couldn’t do this by myself. Not without one of us getting seriously hurt.

It came after me, no longer satisfied with running. It tried to lunge for my neck, but I was on my feet before it could. I twisted to the side and get my jaw around its neck. This time I pressed down harder, tasting blood in my mouth. I bit down until the rogue went limp. I opened my mouth and stepped back.

It was dead. I killed it.

My insides twisted as I stared at it. It would change back into a human soon. They always did when they died. Something crashed into the clearing, and I whipped around, a growl low in my throat. Seth shifted and put his hands up.

I forced myself to shift too, the process painful with my wounds. I pressed my hand to my side, and blood pooled around my fingers.

There was blood in my mouth, and I spit onto the ground, resisting the urge to throw up. Bile rose in my throat, but I swallowed hard against it.

“Dude…” Seth trailed off, taking a step toward the rogue.

It had shifted, and I followed his gaze. I took a stumbling step back when I saw who it was. Her neck was ravaged, and there were claw marks along her sides. Her blond hair spilled down over her shoulders, and purple bruises covered her pale arms and legs.

“Sabrina,” I breathed, taking a step forward.

“What happened?” Seth asked, his eyes wide.

“She attacked me. I tried to subdue her, but I couldn’t. It was me or her.”

Seth shook his head. “We need to take care of this. We can’t let anyone find her.”

I just nodded. He stared at me for a moment, then started for the body. “Go back to the house,” he said, frowning down at Sabrina. “Sneak in through the basement. There's a gym. I think I have some clothes in a bag down there.”

I shook my head. “We stash clothes in woods. I’ll just shift and run there. I can bring you some.”

He nodded. “Go then.”

I could tell he didn’t know what to say to me. What was there to say? I was a killer. Plain and simple. I could run as fast as I wanted. I could run faster than all of them, but I’d never be able to outrun what I’d done. Sabrina wasn’t a nice person, but she was innocent. She didn’t deserve this.

I shifted, biting back a yelp as my wounds stretched. Then I turned and took off into the trees. I tried to shove it from my mind, but I couldn’t stop seeing her lifeless body. It just pushed me to run faster.

God, how was I going to explain this to Celeste? This wasn’t like fighting the Schreibers. We had to make this go away. We had to make Sabrina go away. It was awful.

She’d never see me the same again.